Can you really make a living doing what you love? If you succeed in doing so…tell me how. The answer to this question isn’t exactly straight forward.

To get paid for doing what you love is very much a dream for most of us, the truth is, we all have the potential to achieve this goal, however the road to get there is normally a lot harder than you would expect. Then again, I suppose this all depends on what it is that you love doing.

So, can you make a living doing what you love? Yes and no. The answer lies within the thing that you love doing, not every dream job has profit potential, and some dream jobs are so much of a dream you can only pray that a miracle happens. Take being an Astronaut for example, this is a job that only 1 out of roughly 13.8 Million people will ever experience. So this tells us that we have to be realistic with our goals. Not only that but some dreams and some hobbies make worthless businesses. Professional Careers just don’t exist for everything. So, whether your hobby/interest leads you to a new career or even starting your own company here are some pointers on what to look for.

For a business to work there has to be at least two things considered: a product or service, and customers willing to pay for that product or service. If what you love to do isn’t useful to anyone else, or if it doesn’t create worth for other people by solving a problem, then you’re probably never going to make money doing it. A Passion isn’t enough if there’s no business model.

With that said, turning your passion into a realistic business or career shouldn’t be too hard after all. We have established that there needs to be a demand and that we need to be realistic in achieving it. So what else do you need to consider?
• Would you still enjoy your hobby/passion full-time?
• Are you good at it? Or do you have qualities that could be considered relevant to the job?
• Have other people asked for your help related to your hobby/passion?
• Are there enough people out there willing to pay to benefit from your expertise?
• Are there other companies delivering the same service? If so, would you be able to serve this market better or come up with a niche business model to make you stand out and be better?
• Could you deal with everything that comes with pursuing your hobby, for example; if there was a lot of admin to take care of, would you still enjoy it?

There are so many other things to consider before you make a living doing what you love. If you can identify all of the things that are stopping you, you’re already half way there. The next step is to find ways to pursue your goal. Taking tests, attending interviews, tracking down the best point of contact, researching your market, setting up meetings, whatever it is that you have to do, just remember it can be done. If other people are doing it, so can you.